Quinoa is an ancient grain from the Andean region of South American, including Peru. While my husband and I were in Peru last month we actually didn’t eat any quinoa – our guide for the Choquequirao trek said that most of the quinoa is exported out of the country and what remains is expensive. While at home in Colorado we eat a lot of quinoa, mainly in salads because it’s not so great on its own. This is a quick and easy salad, perfect for those warm nights.

Serves 4-6

time: roughly 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa, cooked per package directions

cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1/2 orange bell pepper, sliced in bite-size pieces

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced in bite-size pieces

green onion, sliced thinly

cucumber, peeled and sliced in bite-size pieces

kalamata olives, sliced in half

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

black pepper

kosher salt

feta cheese

pine nuts

Directions:

1) Cook the quinoa according to the package instructions – remove from heat and let cool.

2) After washing the vegetables cut them and set aside on the cutting board. Slice the kalamata olives in half.

After spending two weeks in Peru, we are back in Colorado. Our trip to Peru took us on a 4 day trek to the Incan ruins of Choquequirao high in the Ande mountains, to South America’s largest zip line in Santa Theresa, to amazing hot springs over looking the river in Santa Theresa, to the not so tourist town of Quillabamba, the gorgeous city of Cusco, to the very tourist city of Aguas Calientes and Machu Pichu, to the hot, humid and noisy city of Lima, and to other small towns in between.

We left Colorado with several weeks of 5″ of snow and cold weather – and now we are back to sunshine and warm weather! It will be nice and sunny until this weekend where we’ll dip 20-30 degrees and have snow…so is the life in Colorado.

I actually made this recipe last summer but didn’t get the chance to post it. My husband and I made it again last night, and as before it was delicious! If you are looking for a potato salad that does not have mayonnaise, look no further. This recipe uses red potatoes, bacon, white vinegar, sugar and whole mustard seed mustard. It is sweet and tangy. Read below for the directions.

Serves 6-8

time: 1 hour, roughly

Ingredients:

15 small to medium red potatoes, washed and poked with a fork

6 slices bacon

1 small red onion, diced

1 cup white vinegar

6 tablespoons water

9 tablespoons white sugar

3 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

6 tablespoons whole mustard seed mustard

2-4 hard boiled eggs

1 bunch dill, washed and chopped finely

Directions:

1) Bring a large pot of water to a boil, once boiling place the red potatoes in the water and boil for about 20 minutes / until soft when poked with a fork. Drain and set aside to cool. Once cool slice into bite sized cubes.

2) Boil the eggs for about 20 minutes, drain the water, cool the eggs then slice them into bite sized pieces.

3) Heat a skillet to high and cook the bacon, being sure to not burn the pieces (turn the heat down if needed). Once the bacon has cooked place on a paper towel lined plate and press out the extra grease. Break into little pieces and set aside.

4) Drain most of the bacon grease. Add the diced red onion and cook for about 5 minutes until slightly brown.

6) Place the cooked & cut up potatoes pieces into the pan with the cooked onions and cook for a little over 5 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so.

6) In a small bowl mix together the white vinegar, water, sugar, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the potato and red onion mixture in the skillet. Remove from the heat.

7) Scoop the potato mixture into a serving bowl. Stir in the chopped eggs, bacon pieces and chopped dill. Stir to combine. Serve immediately (this potato salad can be served cold, but it’s better warm).

4 tablespoons tahini sauce (I found that the Whole Foods brand is the best)

2-3 tablespoons water

1/2 lemon, juiced

Directions:

1) Wash the kale, then chop it up to slightly larger than bite sized pieces. Chop up the onions to about the size of your pinky nail – small, but not too small. Mince the garlic.

2) Heat up your skillet to medium-high and add a little bit of oil, let it get warm for about a minute then all the chopped kale, onion & garlic. Season with salt & pepper and stir to coat evening. Reduce to medium-low, cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes.

3) In a small bowl thoroughly combine the tahini sauce, water and lemon juice.

4) Once the kale has softened and browned a little bit, stir in the tahini sauce / water / lemon juice mixture and stir to coat. Continue to cook on low for about 3 minutes, serve warm.

Millet is a grass, it has a sort-of corn taste. I found that it required a tad bit more water than stated in the cooking directions, which I account for here. 1 cup dry, raw millet yields about 3 ½ cups cooked millet.

Ingredients:

1 cup dry millet

2 1/4 cups water

salt

pepper

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

can black beans, drained and rinsed

avacado

tomato

bell pepper

feta or goat cheese

Directions:

1) Boil the water, add a pinch of salt & millet – cover and cook on low for about 20 minutes without opening the lid.

2) When the millet is cooked it will be soft; remove the cooked millet from the stove, leave covered and let stand for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes take the lid off and let cool completely.

3) While the millet is cooking, drain/rinse the black beans and chop the avocado, tomato and bell pepper.

ok, ok. I know that it’s snowing in Colorado and is cold pretty much every where in the country, but I wanted to post this recipe that I made in the summer. You can still get kale, so that’s good. Maybe add fall fruit like an apple?

Serves 2

time: 10 minutes or so

Salad Ingredients:

handful of kale per person, washed and torn into small pieces

2 peaches, pitted and sliced into bite sized pieces

goat cheese (or feta), sprinkle for each person

Dressing Ingredients:

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic binegar

1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

1 tablespoon honey

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Wash / tear the kale. Wash / cut the peaches.

2) Make the salad dressing in a small bowl stirring vigorously to combine all of the ingredients.

3) Add the kale & peaches to the salad dressing, mix to coat the produce.

4) Place salad on each plate and sprinkle the crumbled goat or feta cheese on top.

1) Boil orzo according to package directions. Rinse in cold water and let cool.

2) Wash the arugula and cherry tomatoes; slice the tomatoes in half.

3) In a large boil mix together about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (more/less of each depending on preference). Add a pinch of salt & pepper (again, more if you want). Mix the dressing up.

4) Put the cooked/cooled orzo, wash arugula, tomatoes and a handful of goat or feta cheese in the dressing. Stir to coat. Serve immediately.

I love salad, and I like interesting salads. This one combines arugula (though I’m sure it would be just as yummy with spinach!), orzo pasta, goat (or feta) cheese and tomatoes. Super simple and full of flavor – how can you go wrong!??

serves: about 6

time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

baby arugula

1/2 cup dry orzo, cooked

tomatoes (I used cherry), sliced

goat or feta cheese

5 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

salt

pepper

Directions:

1. Boil the dry orzo according to package directions. After it has cooked let it cool.

2. Wash and chop the tomatoes. Wash the baby arugula

3. Mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt & pepper (to taste) together in a large bowl. Throw in the baby arugula, cooked & cooled orzo, cut tomatoes and a handful or so of goat or feta cheese (the amount of cheese is to taste).

I only make fish on a Friday or Saturday night. It’s been my “rule” since I started working in offices. The smell of re-heated fish in the microwave is not pleasant. This is a recipe that you can make any night of the week because you don’t really have to re-head the tuna and if you do it’s not really a “fishy” fish.

When you cook the fish you want to make sure that you don’t over do it, tuna is meant to just be seared on the outside.

I love this recipe because it is so fresh tasting, and uses Asian ingredients (one of my favorite types of foods to make as I’m sure you’ve noticed!).

serves 2

Tuna

1 Yellowfin Tuna (you can also use Ahi)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 teaspoon corn starch

1/4 cup pineapple juice

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon chile garlic sauce or Sriracha

2 tablespoons black and white sesame seeds, toasted

drizzle of sesame oil

Salad

square wonton wrappers, cut into strips (if you want this to be gluten free use corn tortillas)

handful of mixed lettuce

1 can pineapple, diced

1/2 cup toasted sesame oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons pineapple juice

2 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoon chile garlic sauce or sriracha

1 tablespoon tahini

1 lime, juiced

2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

back and white sesame seeds

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the wonton strips in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. Spray the wontons with olive oil. Bake in the preheated oven for about 5-7 minutes – you don’t want them to burn (like I did!) so keep a close eye on them. You only want them to be a light golden brown color / just crispy. Once they are browned remove the tray from the oven and set aside.

Mix together the soy sauce and cornstarch in a small pot over medium-high until well mixed. Then add the pineapple juice, the honey and chile garlic sauce/Sriracha. Bring this mixture to a boil; reduce the heat to low and let simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce has begun to thicken. Remove the pan from the heat.

Heat a large cast iron pan on high and add a drizzle of sesame oil. Pour in the sauce mixture until bubbling. Place the tuna steak in the pan and sear the first side of the tuna steak, flip the tuna over and sear that side. Remove the steak from the pan and slice into strips (or bite sized pieces).

Place a handful of lettuce on each plate and sprinkle a few of the pineapple chunks on top of the lettuce.

Place the tuna steak strips on top of each lettuce/pineapple on the plates, sprinkle with the black and white sesame seeds, and drizzle with the vinaigrette. You could also serve with sliced avocado, none of mine were ripe 🙁

I love adding wild rice to my salads, I am now a believer in adding sweet potatoes to my salads too! Did you know that wild rice isn’t actually rice? It is actually four species of grasses forming the genus zizania and the grain which can be harvested from them.

Chicken Marinade:

3-4 chicken breasts, sliced into fourths

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

pinch of salt

Salad Ingredients:

cooked wild rice (we used 2 cups uncooked, this was too much)

1 sweet potato

Arugula

cashew pieces

dried cranberries

olive oil

salt

pepper

Dressing:

2 lemons, squeezed

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1) Combine the ingredients for the marinade (minus the chicken) and boil on medium heat for about 10 minutes until the sauce becomes thick. Cool for about 10 minutes and pour over the chicken pieces. Marinade for at least 1 hour (which should be the amount of time it takes to prepare the rest of the meal) or overnight.

2) Cook the wild rice.

3) Heat your oven to 375 degrees F. Peel the sweet potato and cut into 1/4″ squares. Place into a baking dish drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt/pepper, stir to coat. Bake for about 30-40 minutes stirring every 10 minutes to make sure the sweet potatoes do not burn. Once they are cooked through remove from the oven and set aside.

4) Combine all ingredients for the dressing and place in an airtight container so you can shake and combine the ingredients more easily.

5) Cook the chicken pieces in a medium-high heat skillet pouring in the marinade.

6) Once the rice/chicken are cooked, place a handful of arugula on each plate, place a scoop of rice on top of that, add a few pieces of chicken, and top with the sweet potato pieces, cashew pieces, dried cranberries and sprinkle with the lemon honey dressing.